


Hear Me

by kallistob



Series: Mr Graves, Sir [2]
Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Blood and Injury, Cauterization, Disability, Gen, Implied/Referenced Torture, Legilimency, Not the intended use of Diffindo, Nothing good or pretty happens, breakdown - Freeform, heed them damn tags, mute Graves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-18
Updated: 2017-04-18
Packaged: 2018-10-20 16:59:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10666941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kallistob/pseuds/kallistob
Summary: Graves is mute, and he has to learn to live with it.





	Hear Me

**Author's Note:**

> HEED THE TAGS. 
> 
> This is one of the first things I wrote over on Tumblr.

* * *

This was his last visit. 

 

Grindelwald grabs his tongue and tugs on it, pulling it out of Graves’ mouth as much as physically possible. Graves’ chains rattle as he struggles against Grindelwald’s hold, inarticulate sounds coming out of his throat and eyes watering at the pain. Grindelwald looks at the pink muscle, seeming to consider his next move before raising his wand. Graves’ eyes widen and his trembling increases.

Grindelwald slices Graves’ tongue off with a well-aimed _Diffindo_.

_Red and wetness are all he can see, can feel; there’s an emptiness to him that wasn’t there minutes before and he wants to scream but he can’t breathe, can’t speak, can’t –_

Graves is choking on his own blood, and Grindelwald gives him the mercy of cauterizing the wound with a spell before leaving.

 

xXx

 

He doesn’t know how much time passes.

When his mind is with him, all Graves can think about is _his_ _hands in my mouth his wand digging inside me pain pain pain please stop -_

When the Aurors find him, Graves is slipping in and out of consciousness, surrounded by dried blood and vomit, his body a beautiful canvas of purples and greens and yellows.

They refuse to let him into intensive care until it is proven that he is not Grindelwald. Aurors and doctors recoil but the President’s word is Law and the gaunt shadow of what used to be Percival Graves only gets a few healing spells before he is led into a white cell.

 

xXx

 

They can see him through the looking glass. He sits in a corner of the room, head resting on his knees. Staring at nothing. The blue hospital gown they’ve given him does nothing to hide the state his body is in. His ankles and wrists are too _thin_ , the skin around his throat darkened with finger shaped bruises and his right arm just looks _wrong_. Graves doesn’t move it, letting the limb hang close to his body, his curled fingertips touching the cold floor.  

This man belongs in a hospital, not a prison cell. His appearance alone should have been _enough_ to determine that they have the real Graves in front of them. As if holding Grindelwald prisoner two stories below didn’t suffice.  

Feeling sick, Tina enters the room cautiously, O’Brien behind her. Their old mentor doesn’t acknowledge their presence, merely continuing to stare at the wall, left hand drawing senseless patterns on the floor.

Tina raises her wand against him and begins the work. She starts with the basics, _Revelio_ , then moves onto more complicated spells. When her hand begins to tremble, O’Brien takes her place. His spells are more powerful, more complicated, and he curses under his breath when Graves just writhes and whimpers on the ground, simply _taking_ the assault.

“It’s not Grindelwald,” O’Brien finally says. He looks like he is furiously blinking back tears and Tina can only nod helplessly. But as much as she wants to run away from the deafening sound of Graves silently crying on the floor, the procedure is not over yet. So she clears her throat and asks, “Do you have the…?”

He nods, reaching into his pocket and retrieving a small vial containing a clear liquid looking for all intents and purpose like water. Veritaserum. Tina walks up to Graves, crouching to help the man into a sitting position. He’s shivering all over. Tina closes her eyes and counts to ten before she gestures to O’Brien to get on with it.

Her partner grabs Graves’ jaw with one hand and uses a spell to pry open his mouth with the other. He looks focused and distant, detached from his emotions, as if Graves was just another criminal. Then she sees him freeze.

“O’Brien?”

“Tina,” he says shakily. “He doesn’t have a tongue.”

Tina’s stomach turns upside down. “What?”

“He doesn’t. Have. A tongue,” O’Brien repeats. “Give me a minute _. Fuck._ He won’t be able to confess to anything because he can’t _talk_!”

He slumps into the chair next to the interrogation table, a hand over his mouth. “What do we do?!”

Tina bites her lips and thinks. “You’re a legilimens.”

“ _Fuck_ ,” O’Brien says.

“You have to,” Tina says gently.

“Easy for you to say. You’re not the one who’s about to enter a tortured man’s mind because it’s the only way to prove he’s fucking real. As if we didn’t know that already.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” he mumbles. “You’re right. Okay.”

O’Brien gets up, taking a few deep breaths before he crouches in front of Graves. The man looks at him, silent and still, and O’Brien gulps before pointing his wand between Graves’ eyes.

“ _Legilimens_.”

Two minutes later, the Auror stumbles backwards, his wand clattering to the floor. The sound resonates in the empty room, accompanied by O’Brien’s heaving breaths as he tries to center himself again.

“It’s him,” he says. “His mind is in tatters, Tina – I only got bits and pieces but it’s him and – oh god –“

“What did you see?” Tina asks, paling.

“It’s him, it’s him, and - fuck - the things he did to him - I’m going to throw up - oh god-”

He bents over and retches on the floor. Tina vanishes it with a flick of her wand.

“I need - we need to inform Picquery,” he says, wiping his mouth with his hand. “We need to - ”

A whine interrupts him. Slowly, the Aurors turn around until they’re facing Graves again. The man is rocking back and forth, his eyes fixated on O’Brien. Then he shakes his head pleadingly.

Tina feels her heart break at the gesture.

“I have to tell her, Sir,” O’Brien insists.

Graves shakes his head more vehemently. Silence.

“We need to leave,” Tina says abruptly. She couldn’t bear anymore of this. “We did our duty. He’s no Grindelwald. And he needs a _healer_. We’ve wasted enough time.”

Placing a hand on O’Brien’s back, she guides him out of the room. The man is pale and shaking slightly, out of it, and Tina can only imagine what he’d seen in Graves’ head.

Graves, who’d just spent an undetermined amount of time at the hands of Gellert Grindelwald, yet who was denied assistance when he so clearly needed it.

“O’Brien, apparate to the hospital,” she orders, forcing herself to think like the Auror she is. “I will see the President myself and inform her that we have the real Graves in custody and that he needs immediate medical care. You bring healers back with you. Doctor Jones looked furious at seeing Graves’ state, I’m sure she’s just waiting to spring into action.”

O’Brien nods.

“And take care of yourself as well,” Tina adds as an afterthought. “I’ll see you later.”

With one last glance at Graves, Tina leaves the holding cells.

 

* * *

 

**Author's Note:**

> This will probably a couple chapters long, and I'll get on it once I'm done with my French!Graves. I just wanted to share it <3 
> 
> Kudos and comments are very much welcome!


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